I don't get why this is an issue. I slacked off on many boring subjects to do the same. Building software and other digital stuff helped me think like an entrepreneur, and was a hell of a lot more educational than the rest of school.

While the goal of schooling is cultivate young minds and educate them, the reality is that schools are an institution that must implement a curriculum and they expect students to do as they are told.

Very peculiar sentence. The word "distraction" is quoted but the rest of the sentence, the strongest claim, is not quoted.

Where does the "are choosing to learn computer science and programming as opposed to working on other subjects" come from? It is implicitly attributed to "some schools", but which schools? did they really say that, or is the author paraphrasing something they said? or is it the author's interpretation or guess of their motivation?

Or perhaps this is viral marketing, or in other words, BS.

Is this a widespread phenomenon, or a few dumb administrators in a few places? The article doesn't give much context.

In a country of 350M people, "some" schools are going to block hopscotch or using improper fractions for whatever dumb reason. Why should I care?